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The first mention of this tribe located is by Warren (1894), who earlier
(Warren, 1893) included the type genus Plutodes Guenée in Deiliniinae.
Both male and female antennae are broadly unipectinate. In the forewing
of the type genus R1 arises from Rs well distal from the cell and remains
independent. In Archiplutodes Warren and Microplutodes Gen. n. it
arises from the cell just subapically and anastomoses with Sc for a short
distance before diverging from it.
The wings have a pale yellow ground colour, marked with bands or patches
in reddish brown or grey. Micronissa Swinhoe has similar antennal and
venation features but a more 'microniine' facies.
In the male abdomen, sternite 3 lacks a setal comb. The valves in the
type genus have a weakly defined costa, uniform but sparse setation over the
interior face of the rest of the lamina, and a large and subbasal spur or other
spining on the sacculus. The uncus is slender, digitate, apically spatulate or
acute. There are weak, setose, lobe-like socii. The aedeagus vesica is globular
with a distal row of large cornuti. Archiplutodes has genitalia as in Plutodes,
but Microplutodes has them strikingly modified: the valves are
narrowed asymetrically, often sickle-like, without saccular ornamentation; the
socii are prominent; the tegumen bears processes in some species, the aedeagus
is small, slender, curved, sclerotised but without prominent cornuti in the
vesica.
The female genitalia are characterised by absence of a definite signum,
but presence of general scobination, though this is sometimes restricted to
small fields (Microplutodes).
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